English 60. Migrations: Fictions of America

Instructor: Elisa New
Mondays, 10am- 12:00pm | Location: Barker 018
Enrollment: Limited to 27 students
Note: This course will run from 10am-12pm

This course will treat America as it was imagined and re-imagined between the 16th-21st centuries by successive waves of Europeans, Africans, and their descendants. The course explores how evolving fictions of America’s purpose, changing notions of America’s geography, and conflicting ideas of American character inform an emerging literary tradition. Readings to include non-fiction by Franklin, Equiano, Jacobs; shorter fiction by Melville, Jewett, Sui Sin Far, and Cahan; novels by Hawthorne, James, Roth, and Morrison.

Note: Be sure to attend first class meeting to be considered for admittance.